Precast masonry wall panel and method of precasting same



M. w. SLOAN 3,530,632 PRECAST MASONRY WALL PANEL AND METHOD OFPRECASTING aAME a" MANeuM w. SLOAN BY 7 TDOQM SQHFQ Arrollueva Sept.29., 1970 I w, SLOAN 3,530,632

PREGASTMASONRY WALL PANEL AND METHOD OF PRECASTING SAME Filed April 3,1968 4 SheetsSheet 2 I. INVENTOR MANGUM w. SLOAN A-i-ToR eYs M. W. SLOANSept. 29, 1970 PRECAST MASONRY WALL PANEL AND METHOD OF PREGASTING SAMEFiled April 5, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR MANGUM W. SLOAN ATTORNEYSp 4 1970 M. w. SLOAN r 3,530,632

PRECAST MASONRY WALL PANEL AND METHOD OF PRECASTING SAME Filed April 5,1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR MANGUM w. "SLOAN BY TDalL-ul' IL. S ud- GL ATTOR EYS United States Patent 01 ice 3,530,632 Patented Sept. 29,1970 US. Cl. 52-425 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A precastmasonry wall panel having a pair of spaced wythes of masonry unitsbonded together by a concrete core, with each wythe having metal rodreinforcing lattices partially embedded in mortar between the masonryunits and projecting into the concrete core. Metal attaching plates aresecured to the ends of the concrete core adjacent the side edges of thepanel for attachment in a building structure by welding. This wall panelis precast by arranging masonry units in a bed and applying mortarbetween the masonry units with the reinforcing lattices positioned inthe mortar in projecting disposition, and then positioning a pair ofthese precast wythes in spaced face-to-face relation with concretetherebetween to form the core that bonds, the wythes together and embedsthe projecting lattices in the core.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to precastmasonry wall panels and the method of precasting such panels.Pressently, prefabriacted wall panels are generally known and used,primarily for the purpose of expediting construction and minimizingcosts in comparison with on-the-job construction. The time and laborsavings advantage of prefabricated wall panels is especially significantin masonry construction as inconventient, inefficient, and expensiveon-the-job brick or block laying is eliminated. A single wythe precastmasonry wall panel can be simply preformed to serve as a non-loadbearing veneer, facing or partition panel, but cannot normally serve asa load bearing member, especially when formed from standard brick units.Therefore, the problem has been to obtain a precast masonry wall panelof sufficient strength to serve as a load-bearing member and of a simpleconstruction that can be efficiently and inexpensively preformed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION By the present invention, a precast masonrywall panel is provided with sufficient reinforcement for use of thepanel as a load-bearing structural component, rather than as only anon-load-bearing veneer, facing or partition member. Further, thereinforcement is so disposed in the panel that the construction can bevaried to suit particular structural and design requirements.Importantly, this reinforced masonry wall panel is precast in a simpleand inexpensive manner that provides a complete precast panel requiringno on-the-job construction other than that necessary for securement inthe building structure, which is accomplished simply due to features ofthe panel of the present invention.

Basically, this masonry wall panel comprises a single wythe of masonryunits, such as brick, bonded together by mortar with reinforcing meanspartially embedded in the mortar between the units and projecting fromone face of the wythe. This reinforcing means provides the strength forload-bearing use of the panel and the projection of the reinforcingmeans provides means for attachment of the wythe to a building structureor to other components of the panel. A layer of concrete may be bondedto the face of the wythe with the projection of the reinforcing meansembedded therein for further strengthening of the panel and to provide aconcrete face on one side of the panel.

Preferably, a pair of such masonry wythes with projecting reinforcingmeans are combined in spaced relation to form a double wythe panel witha concrete core bonding the wythes together into a composite panel withthe reinforcing means projections embedded in the core, or the wythescan be secured together without a core by welding together thereinforcing means projecting from the opposed wythes.

For simplified attachment in a building structure, metal attachingplates are secured to the ends of the concrete layer or core adjacentthe side edges of the panel for attachment by welding to correspondingplates of adjacent panels and to metal components of the buildingstructure.

In the preferred embodiments the reinforcing means is a verticallyextending metal rod lattice having a pair of spaced rods, one embeddedin the mortar between the masonry units and the other spaced from theface of the wythe and with an intermediate metal rod extending sinuouslybetween and secured to the spaced rods.

As further reinforcement, grid means may be embedded in the concretecore between spaced wythes with the spacing of the wythes beingsutficient to space the projecting reinforcing means to accommodate thegrid means therebetween.

The masonry wall panel is preformed according to the method of thepresent invention by arranging a plurality of masonry units, such asbrick, in a single layer bed, and positioning reinforcing means betweenthe units with a portion of the reinforcing means projecting above thebed while allowing mortar to set between the units to bond the unitstogether and to embed the reinforcing means partially in the mortar. Thereinforcing means may be initially positioned either before the mortaris poured or after the mortar is poured but before the mortar sets. Thissingle layer panel may be used directly as a single wythe wall panel orit may be further preformed by applying a layer of concrete on the faceof the bed with the projecting reinforcing means bonded therein.

In the preferred embodiment, a pair of these single wythes are precastand then positioned in spaced face-toface relation with the reinforcingmeans projecting into the space between wythes. Concrete is then allowedto set in the space between wythes to form a core bonding the wythestogether and embedding the reinforcing means projections in the core.For further reinforcement, the wythes may be spaced sufficiently toprovide a space between the oppositely projecting reinforcing means andreinforcement grid means may be disposed in this space. Alternatively, adouble wythe panel can be precast omitting the concrete core by spacingthe wythes so that the reinforcing means projecting from one wythe abutsthe reinforcing means projecting from the other wythe, and then weldingthe abutting reinforcing means projections together to form an integraldouble wythe panel. The aforementioned attaching plates may be includedin precasting the single wythe, concrete layer embodiment or the doublewythe, concrete core embodiment by positioning the plates prior tosetting of the concrete.

Thus, the present invention provides a simple and inexpensive method ofprecasting masonry wall panels capable of versatile application to formvarious modified panel constructions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view,partially broken away, of a masonry wall structure built with precastmasonry will panels according to a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation, partially broken away, of the wall structureof FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view of abutting portions of two adjacentwall panels, showing the joint therebetween, of the wall structure ofFIG. 1 and as viewed along line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective vieW of a portion of awall panel as viewed along line 44 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of a reinforced single wythe inthe position in which it is cast prior to forming with a correspondingwythe into a wall panel as shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view similar to FIG. 4 andillustrating a modification of the wall panel of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary view similar to FIGS. 4 and 6 andillustrating a single wythe wall panel of another preferred embodimentof the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the preferred embodiment ofthe present invention illustrated in FIGS. 1-4, the precast masonry wallpanel 10 is a double wythe construction. The wythes 12 and 14 are eachformed from conventional building bricks arranged in vertical rows withmortar 18 conventionally disposed between the brick 16 and forming abond therebetween. The wythes 12 and 14 may be of any desirable heightand length suitable for use in a particular building structure. Forexample, the height may be equivalent to the spacing between thefoundation and the roof system of a one-story building or equivalent tothe height of a one-story increment of a multi-story building, and thelengths may be an even increment of the building length small enough torender the panel readily transportable.

The wythes 12 and 14 are reinforced to provide sufficient strength inthe panel for use of the panel as a structural load-bearing buildingcomponent. In the embodiment illustrated, the reinforcing means is inthe form of vertically extending metal rod lattices 20, each consistingof a pair of spaced vertical rods 22 and 24, one rod 22 of the pairbeing embedded in the mortar 18 between brick and the other rod 24 beingspaced inwardly in the panel from the inner face of the wythe in whichthe lattice is embedded. These spaced rods 22 and 24 are connected by anintermediate rod 26 that extends sinuously between and is secured bywelding to the spaced rods. In the embodiment illustrated, the latticesextend substantially the full height of the wythes 12 and 14 and aredisposed between the first and second and between the first and secondand between the third and fourth vertical rows of brick in a four rowwythe construction.

The wythes 12 and 14 of each panel 10 are coextensively positioned inspaced face-to-face relation with the lattices 20 projecting into thespace between wythes, which space is filled with a concrete core 28 thatbonds the wythes 12 and 14 together and embeds the inwardly spaced rods24 of the lattices 20 therein. The thickness of the concrete core 28 issufficient to provide a space between the lattices 20 projecting fromopposite wythes for convenient disposition of vertically arrangedreinforcement grid means 30 in the space between lattices 20. The gridmeans 30, as illustrated in FIG. 4, is simply a system of conventionalreinforcing rods and can be omitted where not required to providestrengthening.

The concrete core 28 substantially completely fills the space betweenthe opposed wythes 12 and 14, though voids may be provided if desired toreduce the weight and cost of the panel 10 and the composition of theconcrete may vary to obtain desired properties. The range of variationsin the concrete composition and in the volume of voids, if any, isdetermined primarily by the particular strength, moisture resistance,thermal insulation, and

acoustical insulation properties desired for a specific use. In thisregard, special coating layers may be applied to the inner faces of thewythes and different core compositions used in different areas of thepanel to obtain special characteristics.

In the embodiment illustrated, the concrete core 28 also serves as asupport for attachment of the precast panel 10 in a building structure,and for this purpose the core fills the space between wythes 12 and 14at the four corners of the panel for securement thereat of metalattaching plates that consist of a pair of upper attaching plates 32secured to the upper end of the core 28 adjacent the opposite side edgesof the panel 10 and disposed between and substantially flush with theupper surfaces of the wythes 12 and 14, and a pair of lower attachingplates 34 secured to the lower end of the core 28 adjacent the oppositeside edges of the panel 10 and extending across the lower surfaces ofboth wythes 12 and 14 to the outer faces thereof.

Securement of the attaching plates 32 and 34 to the core 28 is enhancedby anchoring members in the form of metal rods 38 welded to the platesand extending into the core with an inner hook configuration thatprevents dislodgment of the plates from the core.

The location of the upper attaching plates 32 adjacent the side edges ofthe panels 10 results in abutment of each upper attaching plate 32 ofone panel with a corresponding upper attaching plate 32 of the adjacentpanel so that the abutting plates can be welded together, as indicatedat 36, in FIGS. 1 and 3, to secure the panels together in a multi-panelwall structure. At corners of the wall structure the upper attachingplate 32 of one panel extends beyond the side edge of its panel forabutment with the corresponding plate 32 of the other corner panel.

The lower attaching plates 34 serve to attach the panels 10 to thebuilding foundation by welding, as seen at 40 in FIGS. 1 and 2, to metalanchoring plates 42 located directly under the lower attaching plates 34on a foundation footing 44 on which the panels 10 are supported.

A wall structure is built, using the described precast wall panels 10 ofthis preferred embodiment of the present invention by laying thefoundation footing 44 to extend continuously under the wall structure ata width greater than that of the wall panels 10. Anchor bolts 46 areembedded in the footing outwardly of both sides of the intended panellocations and at spacings along the footing 44 equivalent to the lengthof individual panels. These anchor bolts 46 extend above the surface ofthe footing 44 for extension through the anchoring plates 42, which arethereby bolted to the footing at locations aligned with the intendedlocations of the lower attaching plates 34 of the panels. Theseanchoring plates 42 extend widthwise sufficiently for bolt attachmentand extend lengthwise sufficiently for disposition under the lowerattaching plates 34 of adjacent panels 10.

A panel 10 is then placed on the footing 44 with a mortar joint 48between the footing and panel and extending intermediate the anchoringplates 42, and the lower attaching plates 34 are Welded along theirexterior edges to the anchoring plates 42. Additional panels are thensequentially erected in a similar manner with adjacent panels securedtogether by a vertical mortar joint 50 and by welding of the abuttingupper attaching plates 32. A roof system 52 may then be erected on topof the panels 10.

The resulting precast panel wall structure requires no furtherstructural support, and due to the reinforcement incorporated in theindividual panels it has suflicient strength in itself to serve as aload-bearing wall structure. As a matter of fact, for some purposessufficient strength is obtained with reinforcing lattices 20incorporated in only one of the two wythes.

As mentioned heretofore, the concrete core 28 provides desirableproperties. However, there may be instances where these properties arenot necessary or where the properties of a void between the wythes 12and 14 are desired, in which case the modification of FIG. 6 issuitable. This coreless precast wall panel 54 is a double wytheconstruction having wythes 56 and 58 and reinforcing lattices 60identical to the wythes 12 and 14 and reinforcing lattices 20 of thepanel 10 of FIGS. 14, but with the wythes 56 and 58 disposed so that theinner rods 62 of the lattices of one wythe 56 abut the inner rods 64 ofthe lattices of the other wythe 58 with the abutting rods 62 and 64welded together, as shown, along their abutment. As there is no core towhich attaching plates may be secured, this coreless precast wall panelis secured in a building structure by mortar or other conventionalmeans.

The precast masonry wall panels 10 and 54 of the embodiments of FIGS.1-4 and'FIG. 5 have brick at both faces, which is desirable in manyapplications for aesthetic and physical property purposes. There areapplications,

however, where brick on one of the faces is not desired or is notnecessary. For these applications the precast masonry wall panel of thepresent invention can be modified accordingly as shown in FIG. 7. Thismodified panel 66 is a single wythe construction having a wythe 68 withreinforcing lattices 70 identical to the wythes 12 and 14 and lattices20 of the panel 10 of FIGS. I4, and having a concrete layer 72 similarto the concrete core 28 of the embodiment of FIGS. 14 and providing aconcrete surface on one face of the panel 66. This concrete layer 72 isbonded to the brick on the face of the wythe 68 from which the lattices70 project and is preferably, though not necessarily, of a thicknesssufficient to embed completely therein the projecting portions of thelattices 70. The concrete layer 72 also can serve the same purpose asthe concrete core 28 of the embodiment of FIGS. l-4 for securementthereto of upper and lower pairs of attaching plates identical to theplates 32 and 34 of the embodiment of FIGS. l-4.

Further, where the properties of a concrete layer are not necessary, thesingle wythe 68 with reinforcing lattices 70 can serve as a single wytheprecast masonry wall panel without a concrete layer. Such a panel can besecured in a building structure by mortar or by mortar and welding ofthe metal lattices to metal components of the building structure.

All of the described embodiments of the precast masonry wall panel ofthe present invention are simply and inexpensively preformed by themethod of the present invention, wherein the reinforced wythes are firstprecast individually and then further processed to form one of theillustrated panel embodiments, or used without processing as asimplified panel.

These reinforced individual wythes are preformed as illustrated in FIG.5 by arranging a plurality of brick 16 in a single layer flat bed 74with the bed 74 having the dimensions of the desired finished wythe andwith the brick arranged in spaced relation in rows corresponding to thevertical rows of the completde wythe. In the embodiment illustrated, thebrick are arranged in four rows.

The reinforcing lattices 20 are then placed in the spacings between thefirst and second and between the second and third rows of brick with theone rod 22 of each lattice 20 well within the space between brick andthe other rod 24 parallel to and above the brick. Mortar 18 is thenpoured in fluid form into all of the spaces between brick, which resultsin the rods 22 being embedded in the mor tar. While the lattices 20 areretained in position, the

mortar is allowed to set, thereby bonding the brick to- Upon setting ofthe mortar 18, the brick 16, lattices 20 and mortar 18 become anintegral reinforced brick wythe that can be used directly as a precastmasonry wall panel or further processed to form one of the illustratedembodiments. As an identical wythe construction can be used in all ofthe embodiments, the method of the present invention is characterized byversatility as well as simplicity.

To complete the preforming of the wall panel 10 of the embodiment ofFIGS. 1-4, a pair of reinforced wythes 12 and 14 formed as describedabove are disposed in spaced face-to-face relation with the lattices 20projecting into the space therebetween and with the reinforcement gridmeans 30, if used, positioned between wythes and between the latticesprojecting from opposite wythes. The concrete can be applied by pouringonto a flat wythe and then positioning the other wythe on top of theconcrete. Preferably, however, the two wythes are first arranged inerect face-to-face disposition and the concrete poured into the spacetherebetween. Upon setting, the concrete forms the aforementioned core28, bonding the wythes together by interface bonding with the brick andby having embedded therein the projections of the lattices 20.

The aforementioned attaching plates 32 and 34 are placed in positioneither before or after pouring of the concrete, but in either casebefore the concrete sets.

A modification of this embodiment can be formed by omitting the lattices20 in the precasting of one of the wythes and otherwise proceeding asdescribed above.

To complete the preforming of the wall panel 54 of the embodiment ofFIG. 6, a pair of reinforced wythes 56 and 58 formed as described aboveare disposed in spaced face-to-face relation with the projecting rods 64of the lattices 60 of opposed wythes abutting, and then Welding the rods64 together to form the integral panel 54.

To complete the preforming of the wall panel 66 of the embodiment ofFIG. 7, a single reinforced wythe 68 formed as described above iscovered on the face from which the lattice projects with concrete pouredin fluid form thereon in a thickness sufficient to cover the projectionsof the lattices 70. Upon setting, the concrete forms the aforementionedlayer 72 that is bonded to the brick and has the lattices 70 embeddedtherein. Attaching identical to the plates 32 and 34 of the embodimentof FIGS. 1-4 may be placed for securement in the concrete layer 72 inthe same manner as the plates 32 and 34 are positioned for securement inthe concrete core 28 as described above.

The thickness of the concrete layer 72 of the embodiment of FIG. 7 ispreferably sufficient to completely embed the projecting lattices 70therein, although in some cases it may be desirable to limit thethickness so that the lattices 70 project therebeyond to provideconvenient means for attaching the panel to a building structure.

From the above it is apparent that the precast masonry wall panelconstruction and method of precasting of the present invention isadaptable to numerous variations and it is to be understood that othervariations and modifications are within the scope of the presentinvention, which is not intended to be limited to the foregoing detaileddescription or otherwise, except as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A precast masonry wall panel comprising a pair of spaced wythes \ofmasonry units with the units of each wythe being bonded together bymortar disposed between said units, reinforcing means partially embeddedin said mortar of one of said wythes and projecting into the spacebetween wythes, reinforcing means partially embedded in said mortar ofthe other of said wythes and projecting into the space between wythes,each said reinforcing means being a metal rod lattice having a roddisposed in the space between wythes, and means securing said rod ofeach of said reinforcing means in place in said space and therebysecuring said wythes together to form said wall panel.

2. A precast masonry wall panel according to claim 1 and characterizedfurther in that each of said reinforcing means extends vertically.

3. A precast masonry wall panel according to claim 2 and characterizedfurther in that the rods of the lattices projecting from one wythe arealigned with the metal rod lattices projecting from the other wythe, andsaid securing means secures the rods of the lattices projecting from onewythe to the rods of the aligned lattices projecting from the otherwythe in said space.

4. A precast masonry wall panel according to claim 3 and characterizedfurther in that the rods of the lattices projecting from one wythe abutthe rods of lattices projecting from the other wythe, and in that saidsecuring means is a series of weldments along the abutting rods.

5. A precast masonry wall panel comprising a pair of spaced wythes ofmasonry units with the units of each wythe being bonded together bymortar disposed between said units, reinforcing means partiall embeddedin said mortar of one of said wythes and having a portion projectinginto the space between wythes, and a concrete core inthe space betweenwythes, said core bonding the wythes together and having said projectingportion of said reinforcing means embedded therein.

6. A precast masonry wall panel according to claim 5 and characterizedfurther by reinforcing means partially embedded in said mortar of theother of said wythes and having a projecting portion embedded in saidconcrete core.

7. A precast masonry wall panel according to claim 6 and characterizedfurther in that the thickness of said concrete core is sufficient toprovide a space between the reinforcing means projecting from saidwythes, and by reinforcement grid means embedded in said concrete corein said space between projecting reinforcing means.

8. A precast masonry wall panel according to claim 6 and characterizedfurther in that each of said reinforcing means is a vertically extendingmetal rod lattice.

9. A precast masonry wall panel according to claim 8 and characterizedfurther in that each said metal rod lattice comprises a pair of spacedvertically extending metal rods with one rod of said pair embedded insaid mortar and the other rod of said pair embedded in said concretecore, and an intermediate metal rod extending sinuously between andsecured to the rods of said pair.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,300,181 10/1942 Spaight 52-712947,194 1/1910 Brown 52-561 1,796,048 3/1931 Robinson 52-281 1,833,87511/1931 Lockwood 52-712 2,001,162 5/1935 Strauss 52-562 2,470,917 5/1949 Christensen 52-427 2,688,175 9/1954 Billner 264-87 3,204,376 9/1965Elgenstierna 52-428 FOREIGN PATENTS 545,541 7/ 1922 France. 572,41210/1945 Great Britain.

FRANK L. ABBOTT, Primary Examiner I. L. RIDGILL, JR., Assistant ExaminerU.S. Cl. X.R.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No.3v530|632 Dated p 29, 1970 Inventor(s) M. W. Sloan It is certified thaterror appears in the above-identified patent and that said LettersPatent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 1, line 25, delete the comma after "bonds";

line 33, "prefabriacted" should be prefabricated Column 2, line 71,"will" should be wall Column 3, line 52, delete "and between the"; line53, delete "first and second" Column 5, line 59, "completde" should becompleted Column 6, line 44, after "Attaching" insert plates Column 7,line 7, delete "rods of the" and insert metal rod SIGNED ANu QEALEF Imam( Attest:

Edward M. mach, Ir. WWII! E- D Li iling Officer commissioner 01 PatentsJ

